


Wish upon the time

by Owl_In_Firtree



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Time Travel, change of events, different ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-03-04
Packaged: 2018-01-14 13:59:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1268986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owl_In_Firtree/pseuds/Owl_In_Firtree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo wishes to turn back time to change certain events and accidentally really gets the chance to give advice to his younger self.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wish upon the time

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for mistakes; English is not my mother tongue.
> 
> Pay attention to the dates, it might help you to understand.
> 
> Maybe this is just stupid, but it stuck in my mind nevertheless ;-)  
> Comment anyway if you like to.

25th of June: The dwarves disturbed the peace of Bilbo’s home to hold their meeting there and hire him as their burglar.

14th of October: Thorin, Fili and Kili had died in the Battle of Five Armies and Bilbo left Erebor to return to the Shire with a chest full of gold and a lot of horrible memories.

8th of April: Bilbo got his 9th handkerchief and blew his nose very loudly. Fits like this one were overcoming him from time to time. Still. A storm was blowing in his mind and flooding his eyes with tears. That blasted dwarf king and his blasted quest and the blasted gold! And why in the name of the Valar did Bilbo even agree to take part in it? Why, why, why?! Why had they become so dear to him that he loved them as his friends? Maybe he should swear an oath to never forget them and always honor their memory. But he was adamantly convinced that he could never forget them anyway.

The rest of the day was ruined after this. Bilbo had no choice than going to the grocery or otherwise he would run out of food very soon. Everyone he met on the street and in the store asked him about his red puffy eyes and whether he was ill. Bilbo was fed up to tell them that he was fine, a hundred times as it seemed. On the way back home he struggled with his shopping and the hill which seemed to have no end. Once he had reached his door he was panting. It was no wonder that he went to bed early. Lying there he tried to concentrate on something that was not utterly depressing and would impede him to sleep. Instead he focused on his breath. Inhaling and exhaling as calmly as he could. In and out. Maybe he should participate in one of the meditation courses that were kind of a new sport among the hobbit women lately. One of his last thoughts before he drifted away was that it would be a good thing if one could turn back time and relive everything again. The Valar knew where this thought suddenly came from. But it swirled around in Bilbo’s mind very clearly and caused a burning in his heart.

_The next day or: two years earlier_

Bilbo awoke and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He yawned but was suddenly very awake. Because he was standing in his study. Why was he standing in his study? He knew very well that he had gone to bed yesterday in the evening. Was he becoming a sleepwalker? But before he could keep on musing on this terrible thought, he heard someone humming in the kitchen. And apparently that someone was preparing breakfast, judging to the noises. Bilbo stood very still and listened. He knew that voice. He knew it very well. It was his own.

He moved silently as a cat and peered around the corner. Indeed he saw the back of his own self, standing at the kitchen table. Bilbo furrowed his brows and thought so hard it nearly caused him a headache. How was this possible? He had a good night of sleep and should be fit. Or the incidents of last year were causing hallucinations now. He was awake and yet he saw… but wait, was he awake? Since there was no logical reason for this, the only explanation could be that he was still dreaming. Yes, that must be it. Bilbo didn’t allow himself to think about his wish last night because that would be ridiculous. And if this was a dream, nothing could happen if he revealed himself to the other Bilbo and had a little chat with him.

He straightened himself and walked into the room, not trying to be quiet anymore. The second Bilbo didn’t notice him at first but suddenly he turned around and stared directly into the other’s eyes. The Bilbo that was not preparing breakfast thought that his counterpart looked better than him. His own meetings with the mirror had been quite unsatisfying in the last weeks. But this Bilbo looked younger and not so bothered and not like he was carrying a heavy burden around. Bilbo the older wanted to change place with him immediately. Maybe he could kill this younger Bilbo and become him. Maybe this was why he was here. To regain his good looks but fulfill a necessary but not very funny task first by killing one part of himself. He should definitely stop reading so many fairytales. There must be another sense in this.

The way the other one was staring at him told him that he supposed to be in a dream as well. Well, it was him after all. Of course they had to react in similar ways. His counterpart finally decided to break the silence. “Hello. Um … what are you doing here?” That was tricky and unanswerable. “I don’t know. I’m just … here.” His younger self nodded in some kind of suspicious agreement. “Um … why?” Bilbo the old shrugged. “To give you some advice.” Even if this was a dream he could as well do exactly that. The younger Bilbo sighed. “I could need some. The tomato plants in my vegetable patch just don’t grow as they should.” The older one nodded understandingly. “I know that problem. Probably you gave them too much fertilizer. Try a little less and see what happens.” Indeed he had over-fertilized the tomatoes two years ago. He knew that now. His younger self looked contemplative. “That’s what I thought. But I wasn’t entirely sure. Thank you.” Bilbo just waved his hand. “You’re welcome. Oh, and one more thing: in foreseeable time a company of wild looking and completely strange dwarves will knock at your door. If you are wise, you just close the door on them. Or they’ll cause you a lot of grieve.” The young one looked a bit confused. “Alright. If you say so. But I don’t know what a respectable hobbit – a Baggins – would want to have to do with dwarves anyway. But thank you.”

_Two years later again. Did the younger Bilbo follow the advice? These are his memories of the 26th of June:_

Bilbo stood in the kitchen and prepared eggs for breakfast. What a beautiful morning it was. He had been right to listen to the advice he got once so long ago and close the door in front of those strange blokes. He could still see their footprints in his garden where they had stomped his flowerbeds.

Bilbo thought back to yesterday evening. He had just prepared dinner when there was a knock at his door. He opened and found himself face to face with a really dangerous looking dwarf. Bilbo didn’t give him any chance to say something but shut the door immediately with a loud _bang_!. Then he stood behind the door a little puzzled and thought just now on what he saw. There was another hard knock on the door and a rough voice demanded that he opened. Bilbo remained where he was and hoped that this unwelcome visitor would just leave. Then he could hear someone talking outside. It seemed that somebody else had arrived in front of his door and immediately there was another knock, a bit more civilized than the last. Bilbo still remained frozen. An old voice from outside called: “Master Baggins?” Bilbo didn’t answer and that was fatal. The two dwarves went to peer in through his windows. The one Bilbo had closed the door on found him standing in the hall, pointed at him and called the other.

The moment of shock didn’t last anymore. Well, to be honest it turned into some kind of panic. What the hell did they want from him? And how could they allow themselves to just stare through his window? Bilbo got frightened. This wasn’t normal for the Shire. Something deep in his mind told him to better run even if he couldn’t seize and explore this thought a bit closer because he didn’t know where it came from. But he did what it suggested. Run. He ran the whole way through his house and to the last room. There he discovered the window to be open and took that as a sign. Maybe fleeing and hiding was the best he could do now. For being a bit fat around the waist, he jumped through the open window quite gracefully and landed in a position that came close to a flying squirrel, frozen during the flight. Then he looked to the right and to the left but no one saw him and no one was here, so Bilbo quickly decided to hide in the hills around and see what will happen.

He carefully chose a place from where he had a good view on his front door and part of the garden. Then he allowed himself to catch his breath. And once he had calmed down, his brain could work again efficiently. He knew what told him to run. A strange warning from a strange stranger (well, actually from himself, but that could hardly count now) who told him to shut the door on a company of dwarves already a while ago. Bilbo didn’t believe his words back then, even if he was right about the tomatoes. Closing the door on the dwarf was actually an action on instinct. But when the mirage was right with his forecast about these wilds coming to his house, he must’ve been right when he said that Bilbo should close the door on them, was it not so?

He stayed in his position and watched as more and more dwarves arrived. They all looked quite confused from what Bilbo could see and babbled with each other pretty heatedly. Like a scientist would watch an animal, Bilbo gleefully observed the dwarves, with all their ridiculous braids and stupid furs and brutal weapons. What a barbaric horde. Bilbo couldn’t help but feel a little malicious joy as they all stood perplexed in front of his closed door. Normally Bilbo wouldn’t just shut the door in front of someone. That was rude. But according to what he saw, it was totally justified in this case.

He had thought that the group must be complete by now but he was proven wrong. A single dwarf arrived on his own. The others respectfully backed up a bit. His clothes were more adorned than the other’s. So this must be the leader. Bilbo saw that he listened to what one of the dwarves told him with furrowed brows and obviously unbelieving. Then he looked from the door to the dwarf and back again. Bilbo could easily guess what his problem was. By now he was sure that they wouldn’t do anything and lost the interest in the happenings. He yawned and nearly fell asleep as he halfway lay there in the hills. Should they talk and wonder. It was not his concern.

But then something interesting happened. The awkward wizard from this morning arrived. The one who would twist your words, even if you just wished a common “Good morning!”. Bilbo narrowed his eyes because he didn’t want to miss anything now. The company remained silent (what a surprise!) while their leader, meanwhile very grumpy, explained the problem to Gandalf. Gandalf didn’t say anything and just mused. It took him quite long to do that and Bilbo could see the dwarves becoming squirrelly. He could understand that. Then the wizard took a step to the door while the others moved back. He stretched out his wand and lightly touched Bilbo’s front door. After this, the door opened in a mysterious way. Bilbo was mildly impressed. So this bloke was a real wizard after all. He wouldn’t believe it until now. But then he got a little upset when he saw that Gandalf, the dwarf leader and one of his old companions entered his house! His house! Maybe he should accuse them of domestic disturbance. But he doubted that one of the hobbit policemen would be capable of giving them a dressing-down. And apparently it wasn’t necessary anyway because he could see them leave his hole a few minutes later. It took them quite a while to find out that Bilbo was not at home. And they were lucky that they hadn’t stolen anything! Bilbo perked up his ears. He could hear one of the dwarves say: “Obviously you got the wrong hobbit, Gandalf.” Gandalf gave the door one last explorative look. “It seems I did.” Bilbo could see him sigh heavily. Then the wizard left through his garden gate and the others followed him suit. Bilbo sighed as well. Peace.

14th of October:

Bilbo awoke at 8am when the sun shone through his window. Just when he was completely awake he had the feeling that he had forgotten something. Something important. Today was a special day… Of course, today was the first anniversary of the club of hobby gardeners! How could he forget that? He founded the club himself one year ago, together with the young Samwise Gamgee. A promising and passionate gardener, the boy. Bilbo jumped out of bed with new motivation and dressed in his finest clothes for festive occasions. He and his friends had arranged a party in the Green Dragon today.

Bilbo staggered home after a really jolly party, tired but content. There had been a lot of cake and finest wine and they all had announced what they intended to plant in their gardens next year. There had been even a few hobbits who wished to become a member of their club. Bilbo was glad that it has become such a success. The sun was already setting when he arrived at his garden gate. He was almost in his hall when he remembered that he could water his plants a bit. As the dutiful gardener he was he couldn’t allow himself to let the work rest even for one day. Doing so, he inspected the roses and lilies very carefully. His garden still looked very good for the season. Bilbo put the watering can aside and smiled contently. What a beautiful day it was. But he couldn’t help feeling that something was missing. He was overcome with that feeling very often lately.

THE END


End file.
